Air cleaner



F1553, 1931. l. H. wlLsEY 1,790,890

AIR CLEANER Filed Oct. 3, 1924 -Ilm lll Patented Feb. s, 1931 i 1,790,893y

* v.uNirish llsfrnr'iiis PATENT euries. y

:caviary n. vvrrttsliir,.forturismo, yiiitriiois i d i m'CLEANER p Application nientemeno, 1524.Y "serialy No. 7415516.v

rIhis invention relates to irriprovementsin ous modifications and alternative .construcar cleaners, and more specifically rcleaners' tions, havesholvvnin the drawings andwill. adapted to supply clean, pure aiiftocarbure-t` herein deseribevin detail lthe preferred :ein-n orson internalcombustionengines. f 1 bodiinent,1biit it is -t'o Ibe understood that I 5 'mportant object/'of he 'inventionis ito do Snot thereby intend'to limit the invention 55 provide a simpleand inexpensive :air 4'cleaner to thespeeic form disclosed, but aimzin the of novell construction vwhich.fishighly efficient appended claims to @over fall over a Wide lran'gefofiair supply. Within'theispirit andaseope-of the invention. Another object 'is to provide a new and Referringfto 'the ilraiv'iiigsi V'represents l' improved air cleaner which is adapted `'to the carburetor, Illthe "in-take manifold .of an 60 utilize the air `flow from the radiator fa'n of internal combustion engine, 12 the radiator an automobile, and which is .so constructed fan -at the front of the engine, and 13 the that no material loss ofpower results '3f-ioni air cleaner in v its exemplary embodiment. A the actualcleaning. The engine with its standard equipment is 7115 A further obj ect of my invention resides in shown diagrammaticallywand fonly avithfsufcli 65 the provision of an air cleaner having novel details -as are necessary to illustrate the 'innieans for effecting a ready removal ofthe vention. Y I foreign particles separated vand collecte/d The'air :cleaner 13 comprises an elougated from the Iflowing air. Y easing in the forni 'of .a .conical or A`-ftapering *29 Still another 'object is to provide 'fan air tu'bfe 14, the large end of which opens next to 70 cleaner for carburetors-Whichcan-be ibuiflt in and just'baclr of the fan 12 :and the small end or 'combined with 'soine standard automobile of vWhich extends vvinto Vthe front end vfof a part, such as the signal horn, *to obtain a Closed casing 15 ydefining asuitable dustor n single unitary device for periorming apluseparating chamber. A 4 suitable pipe 16 rality of functions. y opening into "the side lof the :casing lo, con- 75 A further object resides in 'the rvprovision nects the Vlatterwit'h the-'carburetor '10.

of a method for supplying cleanfair to `a #Fitting lcloselyivvithin tlierear end :of ythe carburetor, which method comprises-inducing Casing l5 is a closure Vcomprising a plate xl7 a lioW of air through a lconical or ivtapernig of any-suitable lforno For shape.- A plurality si) tube into a separating chamber, landdetleeti of Eiifns or varies 18 mounted on the plate A12' Si)V ing a portion of sai-d 1airirit'o -a1passage"l'eaeland extending v across the vinner fend of the ing vto the carburetor'but permitting the retube 14 serve with the Iclosureto deiiectfand maini-ng portion of air to continue on subvrhirlfthe incoming air aboutin'thecasingl, stantially'in its orignaldireetio-n,tlievratio'of and to define relatively dead air :pockets for said two portions eing such that the gain separating and. collecting the foreign parti- S5 in static pressure due tothels-udden chan-'ge @les entraiinl'ed'in ftheair. These iins can 'be in direction of the deflected'streainisgreater of any desired forni and arranged 4in lany than the loss in Vstatic pressure loccasioned by sui-table Way, but preferably they consist of the onward flow of the sinall'stream. a set' of parallel plates spaced equidistantly Other objects Vand ladvantages will become and ieri-tending transversely of the pipe Scon- 90 apparent vas the descriptionproceeds. riection Y ln the accompanying drawings, Figure il .Means is provided for `continuously perisa fragmentary view of an internal'oornbusmit/ting fthe ettic'ient removal of 'the Waste tion `engine on'whicli a deviceenibodyingtlie particles collected frornftlieair. To .this end, features of my invention has been mounted. thejplate 17 4is provided 'Wit-'ha plurality `of $5 `Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section 'of the fair eqn-ialfly spaced peripheral projections 19 cleaner. which tit snugly against .the inner surface of Fig. 3 is -a section taken "along line theoasingloand serve to provide zii-plurality o 0-'f'Fig 2, ofiarcuate 'spaces or ports 20 -atand about-,the

5 While my Yinvention is susceptible ofvariinner periphery of the casing. Y

In the present instance, the air cleaner is constructed to form part of a standard signal device for automobiles, the tube 14 serving as the air inlet for the cleaner, and also constituting the horn of the signal device. The signal device comprises a motor 21, the casing of which extends into the rear end of the casing 15, and which is closed at its inner end by a vibrating diaphragm 22. The plate 17 herein shown is secured by screws 23 to a flange 24 on the motor casing, and 1s annular in form to leave the central portion of the diaphragm 22 exposed.

In operation, a flow of air through the tube 14 is induced by the revolving fan 12 and the suction in the carburetor 10. As the air passes in through the tubeY 14 its velocity is increased at a corresponding loss n static pressure. The air enters the casing l5 at a high velocity, and impinges against the plate 17, fins 18 and diaphragm 22, whereby it is whirled about and deflected into the pipe connection 16. The entrained particles in the air are carried by their inertia into the back ofthe relatively dead air pockets between the fins 18 and are thereby separated from the defiected air and collected for removal from the casing 15. A portion of the air continues substantially in its original direction through the ports 20 and serves thereby to carry out the foreign particles collected by the fins 18. This action will take place even though the static pressure in the casing 15 is below that of the atmosphere, due primarily to the velocity of the air flowing through the ports 20. The fiow of air through the ports 2O has an aspirating effect that causes a slight vacuum or pressure drop in the rear end of the enclosed portion of the casing 15, and thereby facilitates the separation of the foreign particles from the air and their collection for removal from the casing 15. The air flowing around the outside of the casing er chamber 15 also causes an aspiration resulting in a slight vacuum at the rear of the plate 17. Vibration of the diaphragm loosens the particles and aids in removing them.

The sudden change in direction o ka major portion of the air converts most of its velocity head to static pressure. This static pressure is considerably more than the loss of static pressure occasioned by the flow of air through the ports 20. In practice, upon increasing the velocity of the incoming air, the static head in the casing 15 can be made to exceed atmospheric pressure thereby resulting in a supercharging effect. Thus the cleaning means serves to clean the incoming air and also tends -to create a pressure head to assist the suction in the carburetor 1() in inducing a flow of air throughr the connection 16. Experiments have shown that a greater suction is required to induce an equlvalent flow of air to the carburetor through an open tube than in my device.

It will thus be evident that I have provided a highly efficient air cleaner for supplying pure air to automobile carburetors and other like devices. No movable parts or parts lowering the effectiveness of the carburetor suction are employed in the cleaner. Entrained particles are not whirled along with the air but are immediately separated therefrom and removed from the casing 15. By combining the device with a standard automobile part such as the signal horn, a small unitary device simple, compact and inexpensive for performing a plurality of independent functions is obtained.

I claim as my invention:

v1. An air cleaner having, in combination, a casing constituting a dust separating chamber and having an air inlet and an air outlet, and a plurality of spaced dust removing membersmounted on one wall of said casing and extending transversely of said air inlet and of saidrair outlet, said wall serving to deflect the incoming air and said dust removing members serving to provide a plurality of dead air pockets for collecting the matter removed from the air, said wall being formed with a plurality of restricted openings at the closed ends of said pockets for permitting a limited flow of air to scavenge said pockets of foreign matter.

2. An air cleaner having, in combination, a casing constituting a separating chamber and having an outlet, a gradually tapering tube with its small end extending into one end of said casing, means closing the other end of said casing but defining a restricted space to permit the flow of a portion of the air outwardly at the periphery of said casing, and a plurality of vanes mounted on said means in said casing, said vanes extending across the inner end of said tube and substantially at right angles to said outlet.

3. An air cleaner having, in combination, a separating chamber having an air outlet, means for converting the static pressure of air passing therethrough to dynamic pressure and for discharging said air at a high velocity intorsaid chamber, baiiie means in said chamber spaced from and extending across the end of said last mentioned means, said baffle means being adapted to deflect the air substantially at right angles into said air outlet, and a plurality of dust separating and collecting vanes on said baffle means, said vanes extending transversely of said first mentioned means and also of said air outlet, said baffle means having openings permitting a restricted flow of air therethrough to carry awayV foreign matter tending to collect betweenfsaid vanes.

4.V The method of cleaning air, comprising inducing a straight flow of air through a gradually tapering tube, baffling said air after leaving said tube and deflecting ay portion of it thereby converting a substantial part of its velocit-y head into static head, and permitting another portion ofsaid air to continue on in substantially its original direction to carry out the particles separated from the deiected air, the proportion of the volume of air deiiected to that of the air continuingon being such that the loss in static head occasioned by the onward How of air is substantially less than the gain in static head of the deflected air.

5. An air cleaner having, in combination, a casing having an outlet, a gradually tapering tube having its small end projecting into said casing, a plate mounted in said casing opposite said tube, said outlet opening from said casing substantially at right angles to said tube, a plurality of relatively short parallel spaced tins mounted on said plate across the inner end of said tube and at right angles to said outlet, said tins projecting but part way across said outlet, and dust outlet means for permitting a restricted HOW of air from between said fins of said casing.

6. An air cleaner having, in combination, a casing having an outlet, a gradually tapering tube having its small end extending into one end of said casing, a closure in the other end of said casing, and a plurality of vanes mounted on said closure and extending transversely of said outlet, said closure dening a plurality of openings with the interior of said casing to permit a restricted flow of air about its periphery. l

7. An air cleaner comprising, in combination, a casing constituting a dust-removing chamber, a discharge passage in said casing, a tapering tube extending into said casing, a plate fitting closely Within said casing and dening a plurality of space restricted openings, and a plurality of vanes mounted on said plate and extending across the outlet of said tube.

8. An air cleaner comprising, in combina` tion, an air chamber, an intake casing eX- tending into the one end of said chamber,

means defining a plurality of relatively dead air pockets at the other end of said chamber to clean and to deflect the air out of said chamber, and a plurality of restricted passages permitting the onward loW of a part of the air in substantially its original direction out of said chamber.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto affixed my signature.

IRVEN H. WILSEY. 

